Glassjaw/American Nothing/Christiansen/The Blood Brothers

live in Milwaukee (2002)

Well, the show was slated to begin at eight o'clock. I arrived around 6:45PM and to my surprise they were letting kids in to beat the cold. I was one of the first to enter so I planted my self right on the gate upfront. Yes you heard me correct there was a gate in front creating a gap between the stage that was filled with some crazy meat-headed security guards. Oh well at least I was close, and enough about me, onto the show.

First up were The Blood Brothers, let me tell you what, these guys were fucking amazing, and loud. Their guitarist played not one, but two Orange half-stacks and their bassist played two big ass cabs as well. Even though the crowd was a bit hesitant toward their style they still made a connection, well with me at least. They tore through a blistering 45 minute set while fidgeting and making other crazy sporadic movements. Occasionally one of their two singers would spring himself through the air off the monitors during the really tense parts of the songs. Overall, a fantastic performance by a fantastic band. If these guys don't "blow up" when their new album drops I will have lost all faith in every music fan EVER.

Then came Christiansen, straight out of Kentucky. They didn't empress me too much. Although their lead guitarist/singer pulled off some hella good tricks with his guitar flipping it around his neck and swinging it, never missing a note. They played these really stupid sounding techno interludes in between songs and that got pretty annoying. They must've ended with their best song because I enjoyed the rock session very much. They should've played first and only played the last part of the last song for 30 minutes. That would've made me happier.

Next up was the "Nine-Armed" fury of American Nothing. I'd been looking forward to seeing these guys again for awhile now and believe me, I was quite disappointed. They played all the hits but no one seemed to be getting into their set. Possibly because there was a five foot gap between the stage and the fans. And the gap was filled with music-hating bodybuilders who will stop at nothing just to kick a kid out, assholes. Anyway the band just didn't seem to be feeling the crowd/venue so they didn't move around very much. Toward the end a few kids pushed forward to thrust their fingers toward the band. I've seen these dude a few times, live and on video, and they just didn't seem like themselves. Maybe they were sick or something. Oh well, onto the next band.

Last but most certainly not least was the grand musical styling of the mighty Glassjaw. Now, don't get my wrong I love this band with all my heart and I may sound like a hypocrite for saying this but Glassjaw has the worst fans EVER. I think it's just a bunch of Drive-Thru kids' way of venting their rage, you know an outlet of sort. I heard one comment, "Why are you smoking, I thought you were "Straight-Edge?." While the smoker replied, "Oh I am Straight-Edge, I just smoke." Then the first one replied, "Oh I See." Never have I been more baffled in my whole life. It was a giant horde of fat kids who tilt their hats and don't understand the message that The Jaw is trying to put out. Anyway, enough of my ranting, onto the performance.

GJ tore into the set with "Stuck Pig" and ripped through a few new ones. Daryl skipped across the stage gyrating his body to the music and jumping after the pauses. He has got to be one of the most flexible performers I've ever seen hit the stage. Glassjaw sped through their songs with ease rarely stopping to talk to the crowd something I usually look forward to. They gave a few surprises by playing "Cavalcade" and "Convectesuco," two songs I had never seen them do live before. But, other than that their performance was quite mediocre. Not too much craziness in the crowd, because The Rave is the worst venue ever in the history of mankind. Every kid who tried to crowd surf was immediately apprehended and kicked out. Fuck The Rave and there fucking big muscled jerk-off security guards, they can suck my nuts.